The invention relates generally to carriers for supporting electric cables and hydraulic conduits and more particularly to carriers which guide such conductors in a specific path of travel as they move with machine elements to which they are coupled.
It has been the practice in the past to construct such cable carriers of chains formed of a plurality of links pivotally connected to each other by pins, rivets or bolts. This construction requires a large quantity of such connectors and results in a heavy and cumbersome assembly which is relatively expensive to manufacture.
Moreover, assembly of the links in this manner results in surface contact between adjacent links and the friction between these contacts must be overcome as the links are articulated, resulting in a substantial additional load on the power train of the machine.
It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide an improved conductor guiding support which is sturdy in construction, efficient in operation and relatively inexpensive to produce.
The individual links of the present invention are adapted to be formed of sheet metal stampings for ease of manufacture.
According to the present invention the multitude of individual connectors has been eliminated by the unique expedient of connecting the links to each other by welding while facilitating their ability to pivot relative to each other.
A further purpose of this invention is to minimize a frictional resistance to movement between adjacent surfaces by spacing the cooperating links of the chains from each other.